New Beginnings
by RACHELorLORELAI
Summary: Seventeen year old Lorelai steps off the bus and into Stars Hollow. Baby in arms, she's looking for a new beginning. [Slightly AU]


**New Beginnings**

**Summary:** Slightly AU. Lorelai comes to Stars Hollow at seventeen, with a baby in her arms, hoping for a new beginning.

**Rating: **PG (K+) for now, only very mild language. Will probably go up in later chapters, but I'll give notice.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls. Maybe if I marry into the Palladino's...

* * *

It could be said that it all started with the note. A hastily written note, scrawled in a barely legible font that told the story of the shaking hand holding the pen. The pen was laid down, the note carefully positioned on the table, the warm, tiny bundle was picked up, and the door closed.

It could be said that it started with conversations. Conversations of christening ceremonies, debutante balls and birthday parties at the Club. The conversations started as excited, hushed whispers over the bassinet, and quickly transformed into open discussions at the dinner table, leaving an empty chair where an angry teenager once sat. She was reminded of similar conversations from the past, but this time she wasn't the victim, instead, it was the cooing angel who never left her side. From the moment of her daughter's birth, the young mother had expressed fervent promises. Promises of love, honesty, and protection. As she lay in the hospital bed, covered in perspiration, hair matted to her head, she vowed to protect her daughter, her namesake, from the life she herself was forced into.

It could be said that it started with conflicting opinions. The second she heard the word, "nanny," she had begun to formulate a plan. A plan to rescue herself and her daughter from the life she was forced into.

And so, she authored a note. Formal, short, and completely void of all emotion, it mirrored their relationship.

* * *

_Emily and Richard,_

_We've stayed too long. It's time. _

_Lorelai and Lorelai_

* * *

She didn't know where they were going, how they would get there, what they would do after reaching the mysterious destination, but it must be said that somehow, she felt safer and more secure then she had ever felt in that house.

"Where are you headed, Miss?"

Miss. It's how the maids had addressed her.

A pregnant pause, "Depends. What's the last stop?"

"That would be Stars Hollow, Miss."

"Then that's where we're going."

Settling herself, her daughter, sleeping unassumingly in her car seat, and their small bags into the already crowded city bus took some time, and when they were finally adjusted, she took a moment to think about how she was feeling. If she was honest with herself, she would say that she hadn't been this scared since crouching in the girl's rest room during fifth period, clutching a plastic stick adorned with a pink square. If she was herself, she played the role she was born into. Plastering on a happy, independent face worked for the rest of the world, but she could not deny the butterflies she felt in her stomach.

* * *

She didn't remember falling asleep, but now she wakes to a gentle tapping on her shoulder.

"Miss? Miss?"

That damned word again. It wasn't her.

She opens her eyes, shocked by the blinding fluorescent lights, and quickly closes them again.

The tapping becomes more persistent, the voice grows louder and more impatient.

"Miss, wake up. It's the last stop."

She opens her eyes once more now, scans the now empty bus and glances out the window.

"You got family here, Miss?"

She's startled by the question, could her mother really have her face on milk cartons already?

She realizes no, her appearance probably rose suspicion. She is a seventeen year old girl, traveling alone, a tiny baby in tow, and several small bags stowed near her feet.

She is unsure how to answer the question, but she knows whatever story she gives better come soon before the bus driver's suspicions are heightened.

"Yes. I'm visiting my Aunt." She lies, knowing the only Aunt she has lives in France.

"Well, good. Hurry to her now, before it gets dark. You need help with your bags?" The man inquired with kind eyes.

"No...no thank you." She continues to portray her role, the role of independence and strength. She hopes the fear in her eyes doesn't give her away.

While she struggles to balance the baby carrier and their belongings, the driver returns to his seat and pulls the lever to open the door. The door is open, she is finally free.

"Take care, Miss. And you've got a sweet sister there. Didn't here a peep outta her the entire ride."

Sister. She's used to the assumptions by now, but they still manage to grate her, although she'd never admit it.

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly, continuing to play her role.

_I better win a damn Oscar for this one_, she thought as she stepped out onto the curb.

Placing her still sleeping baby on the nearby bench, she dropped their bags and sat down to think. She waved goodbye to the bus driver and watched the bus lurch forward and pull away, leaving the air thick with exhaust fumes.

Lorelai reflected on her current situation and realized with slightly sadistic irony, that her story would make a great after school special. Or maybe they could use the sad portrait of a lonely girl and her own little girl slouched on a park bench as an ad for condoms. The forlorn and worry-ridden look on her face, paired with a damn catchy slogan would certainly sell a whole load of rubbers.

Her short trip down self-pity lane was interrupted by the intrusive rumbling of her stomach. She hadn't eaten that day, she'd been so nervous about putting her great escape plan into action that the mere thought of food repulsed her. She now regretted not taking Pauline, the new maid's, offer of a hearty breakfast that morning.

She forced herself to forgo any more thoughts about food, she would have to wait until she found a place to stay. She got to her feet then, and wondered if the weak, shaky feeling was an effect of hunger, or nerves. Lifting the car seat, awed once more by it's weight, and piling the bags on her arms, she began to walk.

Walking gave her time to think, and time to observe her surroundings. The bus had dropped her off at what appeared to be the center of a small town. Stars Hollow. She thinks this was the name the driver had announced as the final stop, and her theory is proven correct when she walks by a small, but proud sign, proclaiming the town's name and it's minuscule population. She is intrigued by the name of this small town, Stars Hollow.

Continuing on her journey, to where, she is not certain, she passes a number of people, almost all of which throw her a curious look. Some smile, some look puzzled and some walk by without noticing, as if they're used to strange people and strange occurrences in this small town.

She passes a number of what she thinks are stores, looking for one which could possibly offer her some help. She passes a grocery store with a puzzling name that she first mistook for 'Moose's Market.' On second glance, she realizes she is mistaken, but she shakes her head and somehow she knows this is no ordinary town. She passes a video store, a hardware store, and a store apparently completely devoted to cats. She comes to a large building, at what appears to be the end of the main street. She thinks it to be the town hall, or some branch of a government agency, maybe the police stations, because it seems to be the biggest building in town. Pausing to read the lavender sign in front, she realizes she is wrong again, and starts to wonder how many more surprises this town has in store for her.

'Miss. Patty's School of Dance" The sign regally announced.

She heard voices from inside, and without hesitation, without second thought, she climbed the stairs and knocked on the large wooden, sliding door.

The door slid back, without reservations, and she was greeted by a large woman, her face heavily made up, and clothed in exotic, bright colors and patterns.

"Why hello there dear, can I help you?" She asked warmly, her voice free of judgement.

She was beginning to like Stars Hollow already.

"Um...yes. My name is Lorelai Gilmore, and I'm not from around here, do you think there's someplace I could go in this town for a job and maybe a place to stay?"

The woman seemed impressed at her direct and unafraid approach.

She was beginning to like this girl already.

"Well, welcome honey. My name is Patricia LaCoste. I've taught dance here in Stars Hollow for ten years, I finally found my calling after retiring from the business we call show." She laughed with gusto and continued on. "You say you're looking for a job and a place to stay hmm. You should try the Independence Inn. Mia's always talking about needing more help and maybe she can fix up a living arrangement for you."

"Really? Thank you so much...uh...Miss...Patricia..."

"Please call me Miss Patty, dear, all of my friends do. And who is this precious little thing?" She motioned to the sleeping baby.

"This is Rory. My daughter."

She braced herself for the usual response, a lecture, an icy stare, maybe the always popular eye roll. She once had a woman at the mall give her a Bible and a blessing.

She had braced herself for something that didn't come. She hadn't been there for more than fifteen minutes, and already this town had defied the inevitable.

The woman leaned forward to touch the rosy baby, murmuring of her sweet face.

"Honey, she's adorable, and she looks just like you! How old is she?"

"Just turned six months." Lorelai replied proudly, she had never, ever gotten a response like this before.

"What a sweetie. Oh look at me, talking your ear off when you obviously got your hands full. I'll direct you to the Independence Inn, and tell you what, I'll give Mia a call before you get there, so she's expecting you."

"Thank you so very much." She replied sincerely.

* * *

A few minutes later, after following Miss Patty's directions exactly, Lorelai found herself at the Independence Inn.

She had just walked in the door to what she assumed was the lobby, when a petite, blonde woman in her late forty's greeted her with a smile.

"You must be Lorelai...Gilmore was it?"

"Yes. Are you Mia?"

"That's me. Boy, did Patty get you all wrong. You're much more of a Natalie Wood than a Grace Kelly. She must be slipping with age. Oops, don't tell her I said that, she might take back my invitation to her wedding."

"Oh. Well, thanks. Your secret's safe." She replied nervously.

"And this is your daughter?"

"Yes, her name is Lorelai, like me. Although I've started calling her Rory for short. She's six months old."

"She's beautiful, just like her mother."

Lorelai blushed and continued to be amazed and grateful that the people in this town seemed to have no problem accepting her as Rory's mother. Not her sister, not her babysitter, but as her mother.

"I hear you need a job and a place to stay."

"Yes Ma'am. I'm only seventeen, but I'm a hard worker and I'm willing to do anything."

"Well, I have an opening for a position as a maid...what experience do you have?"

"None."

"None?"

"I'm a fast learner."

"Hmm. I think that will do. I like you, Lorelai, you've got a spunk that I admire. Tell you what, tomorrow we'll go through the daily rounds of maid together and see how you do. But as far as I'm concerned, you've got the job."

Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief. To be accepted so easily for who you are, and not how much money you have was a new concept for her. She had grown up listening to her parents pass judgement on other families or individuals, deeming them 'new money' or another term that she could only guess had a negative connotation. Her parents had tried to raise her with the idea that status, financial and social, came before true personality or spirit, but from day one, Lorelai hadn't quite fit that mold.

Placing the carrier by her feet, Lorelai threw her arms around a surprised but smiling Mia. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Of course dear...now let's talk living arrangements..."

She had only been in Stars Hollow, Connecticut for twenty or so minutes, but Lorelai could tell she was going to like it here.

* * *

To Be Continued...Feedback is greatly appreciated.

**A/N:** Just a little timeline/age note. I spent awhile figuring out the dates and ages for this fic because, well, I'm neurotic like that. I'll give you both Rory and Lorelai's current ages and birthdays, and the present date.

**Present Date: **March, 1985

**Rory' Birthday:** October 1, 1984

**Lorelai's Birthday: **January 9, 1968

**Rory's Age: **Six months

**Lorelai's Age: **Seventeen years and three months


End file.
